When your Queen is lost...

I've had many opponents who have resigned after an error that resulted in the loss of their Queen. But when I make this mistake and lose mine, I have had a few games where I've played on and managed not only to capture my opponent's Queen, but also to manage checkmate.

What do you guys think? Lose your Queen and resign? Or not?

Nope. Never resign. It's in my profile for all to read. No disrespect intended, but I play my clan games to the bitter end. I'll keep moving promptly, but I reserve the right to ask you to demonstrate the win. Of course other at RHP may have a different opnion! 😛😛😛

If I have confidence in my opponent's ability then I resign positions that are clearly lost. Playing them is simply depressing. That being said, I have been able to get back into games when down a full piece, and have blown games that I was winning due to carelessness. I guess it comes down to your personal preference, but like I said, I don't like to log on and look at a screen full of pending losses. I prefer to resign and move on to something more productive.

I think it is personal preference, but for me, it depends on the resulting position. It's too general to say that I would resign if I lost my queen. I would try to evaluate the resulting position and see if I still have some play or possible threats, even though I am down heavy material. I would also look for a plan to draw, or perpetual check or something. If I see right away that the position is hopeless or my remaining pieces are very inactive I would probably resign because there is no use wasting time beating a dead horse when I can spend it playing another game or analysing what I did wrong in that game. Now if I do think I can find some counterplay or perhaps try for a draw, I will play on until the end or one of the above resigning condition have been met.

It really all depends on the situation. I think you begin to "feel" when a position is totally hopeless or if you have some play left. If you are unsure it's probably better to play on. You will then be able to learn when you wasted time by playing on or where your "resign" point is. Never forget the possibility of a draw as well. I love being able to force a draw in losing positions, it's a moral victory in itself.

Originally posted by MontyMoose
Nope. Never resign. It's in my profile for all to read. No disrespect intended, but I play my clan games to the bitter end. I'll keep moving promptly, but I reserve the right to ask you to demonstrate the win. Of course other at RHP may have a different opnion! 😛😛😛

Originally posted by passedpawn22
I think it is personal preference, but for me, it depends on the resulting position. It's too general to say that I would resign if I lost my queen. I would try to evaluate the resulting position and see if I still have some play or possible threats, even though I am down heavy material. I would also look for a plan to draw, or perpetual check or something.

I personally have a tendency to finish games I play in person (OTB) more often than those I play on this website. The immediate pressure to convert an advantage into a win is actually a factor in OTB, while in correspondence chess the winning side can take his time and have a fresh look each turn.

here's an Old game of mine. I think I was probably around 1550 and my opponent 1300 at the time. so pay no attention to some very silly moves on both sides. 🙂

Game 1829253

the reason I posted this, is the very end. I'm dropping a queen, which I really just missed. but at the same time, taking that queen loses my opponent's last counterplay, so instead of taking the queen he resigned. me dropping the queen was the last nail in his coffin.



and here's the game which taught me never to resign just because you drop a queen. sevenstar was rated 300-400 pts higher than me as I remember, so after I realized the only defense is to give up the queen, my knee-jerk reaction was to resign. but after resignation I realized the game was far from resignable, and although I'd probably lose, there still was loads of play left.

Game 1820133



here I miscalculate a mating attack, and end up simply dropping my queen. but instead of knee-jerk resignation, there's a perpetual.

Game 3962792



so the moral of the story is: the amount of material left on the board is irrelevant. the only thing that counts, is: do you have counterplay left?

Originally posted by Evey Hammond
I've had many opponents who have resigned after an error that resulted in the loss of their Queen. But when I make this mistake and lose mine, I have had a few games where I've played on and managed not only to capture my opponent's Queen, but also to manage checkmate.

What do you guys think? Lose your Queen and resign? Or not?

Originally posted by MontyMoose
Nope. Never resign. It's in my profile for all to read. No disrespect intended, but I play my clan games to the bitter end. I'll keep moving promptly, but I reserve the right to ask you to demonstrate the win. Of course other at RHP may have a different opnion! 😛😛😛

Originally posted by eldragonfly
No but really, anyone who quits after losing a queen, depending on the position is not a real chess player, doesn't have that basic level of respect and intelligence necessary to even become a remotely average chess player.

Originally posted by eldragonfly
Quitting after losing a piece, that's just so dull.

And when i lose my queen in an OTB game i sing her a song. 😉

No but really, anyone who quits after losing a queen, depending on the position is not a real chess player, doesn't have that basic level of respect and intelligence necessary to even become a remotely average chess player. But i'm sur ...[text shortened]... en a rook, or doesn't know how to sacrifice the exchange, is not a real chess player anyhow.

Originally posted by eldragonfly
Quitting after losing a piece, that's just so dull.

And when i lose my queen in an OTB game i sing her a song. 😉

No but really, anyone who quits after losing a queen, depending on the position is not a real chess player, doesn't have that basic level of respect and intelligence necessary to even become a remotely average chess player. But i'm sur ...[text shortened]... en a rook, or doesn't know how to sacrifice the exchange, is not a real chess player anyhow.

Originally posted by diskamyl
wow that's harsh. and I think it's complete nonsense. I think just the opposite. if you lose a queen plain and simple, with no chance of counter play or perpetual, it's completely disrespectful not to resign. (above some level of course, which is not at all very high by the way. like 1300 or so).

Originally posted by kbaumen
Eh, those GMs, what do they know when to give up...?